SM Entertainment on Tuesday announced its intellectual property monetization strategy, a business it sees as a core growth area and the first part of the company’s ambitious SM 3.0 business project to be unveiled. Under the plan, the K-pop powerhouse targets at reaching 1.2 trillion won ($926 million) in revenue with an operating margin of 35 percent by 2025. This would be a 134 percent growth in sales compared to the 512.1 billion won in preliminary sales last year. SM plans to achieve s

K-pop Feb. 22, 2023

K-pop girl group Twice is getting back on the plane this April to embark on its fifth world tour, “Ready To Be." This comes a year and four months after their last world tour, with this tour to it be held on the largest scale yet. Twice will kick off the tour in Seoul at the KSPO Dome on April 15 for two days, according to a statement by JYP Entertainment on Tuesday. As of now, they are scheduled to play 17 shows in 14 different cities across South Korea, Australia, Japan and North Am

K-pop Feb. 22, 2023

The Boyz unveiled their eighth mini album, “Be Awake,” on Monday during a media showcase in Seoul. The full-unit return comes six months after the group released its seventh mini album “Be Aware.” Eric is back with the group after a year of hiatus that he had taken due to health issues. The new album “Be Awake” tells the story of boys that fight for love after realizing they have fallen in love. The Boyz transformed into fallen angels, showing their dark insti

K-pop Feb. 21, 2023

NewJeans became the first K-pop female act to sell more than one million copies of a debut album with their EP "New Jeans." The album sold a total of 1,036,811 copies by Feb. 11, according to data collected by Circle Chart. This is the first time since Circle Chart’s record began in 2011 that a K-pop act’s debut album has sold more than a million copies. NewJeans came out with its namesake debut EP on Aug. 1 and took the music world by storm as “Attention” and &

K-pop Feb. 20, 2023

SM Entertainment raised concerns over the K-pop industry monopolization that could result from Hybe’s acquisition of SM. SM Entertainment’s Chief Financial Officer Jang Cheol-hyuk took to the company’s official YouTube Channel on Monday to lay out the reasons why the company opposes Hybe’s “hostile” merger and acquisition. The video was titled "The reason why SM is against HYBE's hostile takeover." “SM and Hybe are the largest entertainmen

K-pop Feb. 20, 2023

K-pop megastar BTS took five prizes home at the 2022 Circle Chart Music Awards, formerly the Gaon Chart Music Awards, becoming the most-awarded artist Saturday. During the K-pop music awards ceremony held at the KSPO Dome in Seoul's Olympic Park, BTS won the artist of the year award in the digital music category for the month of June with its track “Yet to Come,” the artist of the year award in the physical album category for the third quarter with its album “Proof,”

Feb. 20, 2023

CEO of SM Entertainment Lee Sung-soo broke his silence on the internal business management feud between the founder and former SM producer Lee Soo-man and the co-CEOs of SM by releasing a statement via video Thursday. Lee Sung-soo, who is also Lee Soo-man’s nephew, made allegations of offshore tax evasion against the founder and laid out 14 subjects he will touch upon from now on to explain why SM Entertainment decided it’s time to let go of him. In his first video, the CEO claimed t

K-pop Feb. 16, 2023

Hybe, now the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment, turned in its list of candidates for SM’s board of executives on Thursday. The list includes President of Hybe America Lee Jae-sang, Hybe Chief Legal Officer Jung Jin-soo and Hybe's chief of management and planning, Lee Jin-hwa, for the position of inside director. “These candidates have built multifaceted experience in the fields of law, finance and establishing business strategies for a global company that endorses enterta

K-pop Feb. 16, 2023

Suga, a member of K-pop sensation BTS, will go on a world tour in six different countries starting in April, according to Big Hit Music on Wednesday. The first concert will kick off at Belmont Park in the US on April 26 followed by other cities in the US including Newark, Rosemont, Los Angeles and Oakland. Then, Suga will be moving on to the Asian leg of the tour starting with a gig in Indonesia on May 26 followed by those in Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. The dates for his Japan co

K-pop Feb. 15, 2023

K-pop powerhouse Hybe will guarantee SM Entertainment's independence, noting that the founder and former producer of SM, Lee Soo-man, will not take part in business management, Hybe CEO Park Ji-won said to his employees Monday regarding the recent merger and acquisition of SM. Last Friday, Hybe signed a deal with Lee Soo-man to buy 14.8 percent of his SM shares at 422.8 billion won ($334.28 million), making Hybe the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment. "We respect the legacy of SM

K-pop Feb. 14, 2023

Key of SHINee unveiled his second repackaged album, “Killer,” on Monday. The comeback comes six months after the release of Key’s second solo studio album “Gasoline” last August. The album includes three new tracks, including "Killer," “Heartless” and “Easy.” It also includes 11 tracks from Key’s second full-length album, including “Gasoline,” “I Can’t Sleep” and “Ain’t Gonna Dance.&rd

K-pop Feb. 13, 2023

Singer and songwriter Woodz, also known as Cho Seung-youn, is making a comeback with the pre-release single “Abyss” from his fifth mini-album. EDAM Entertainment, Woodz's managing agency, unveiled Monday the teaser image and title of the pre-release single. The teaser image, which looks like a movie poster, shows Woodz standing alone in front of an old castle with a message that reads “It’s alright if you want a lot. I’ll let you have it all.” “Abys

K-pop Feb. 13, 2023

SM Entertainment’s founder and former producer Lee Soo-man joined hands with Hybe in the latest development of an internal business management feud between Lee and the co-CEOs of SM. Hybe, the Korean entertainment agency that houses supergroup BTS, announced Friday that it has signed a deal with Lee Soo-man to buy 14.8 percent of his SM shares at 422.8 billion won ($334.28 million). Lee Soo-man was the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment with an 18.46 percent share. While this deal alr

K-pop Feb. 10, 2023

Ballad king Im Chang-jung has returned with his third EP “I’m a Fool” on Wednesday. It took him longer than expected to release a new album, as he usually introduces a studio album once a year in the autumn, which is usually seen as the best season for ballads in Korea. “This mini album comes after six years since the last one. For studio albums, I sing a track twice or thrice but because there are not many tracks on this one, I put more effort into recording them. I thin

K-pop Feb. 9, 2023

Mina, Sana, and Momo of Twice are making a unit debut in Japan as Misamo with their first mini album on July 26. JYP Entertainment made their debut official Thursday by dropping some teaser photos. Misamo consists of all three Japanese members and is the first subunit from the girl group. In the teaser shots, the trio is dressed all in white, looking like luxurious goddesses. Prior to their debut as Misamo, Mina, Sana, and Momo released the track “Bouquet” as part of the soundtrack t

K-pop Feb. 9, 2023